The End of Everything
by Alison May
Summary: Kara is stranded on Caprica when the Cylons attack and stumbles on Helo.
1. Chapter 1

_AU story. What would have happened if Zak had been a born pilot like his father and brother? Zak and Kara might have actually gotten married. The Cylons attack and Kara is still on Caprica._

**The End of Everything**

Kara Adama sat straight up in bed and instantly regressed it. A wave of nausea was the reward for her quick movement. She clutched her swollen pregnant belly and ignored the signals that her body would like nothing more than to go directly back to sleep. Something was not right; she had definitely been jerked awake by an explosion. She went to her window and was surprised simultaneously by the degree of light outside and the mayhem in the streets. Many vehicles had been abandoned in the road and people swarmed the usually busy Caprican avenue in mass.

Kara quickly crossed the room and turned on her video screen. The traditionally perky blonde reporter was disheveled and distressed. And she was reporting a Cylon attack on Caprica as the source of the noise and pandemonium.

"Frack!" Kara muttered to herself. She cursed her luck that her husband was not even on the planet at the moment. She quickly brushed away her annoyance and picked up her phone to call the military base where she worked. She was rewarded with silence on the line. The reporter was now advising people to stay put and wait for more information, but pregnant or not, Kara had never been good at waiting. She quickly changed into comfortable civilian clothing and grabbed a pack, which she filled with food, water, and medical supplies.

She quickly locked her apartment and found her way into the street below. She and her husband had recently moved in and were not close with any of their neighbors, so Kara didn't stop but made her way down to the street level. Taking her car did not seem to be a possibility if the clogged streets were any indication.

The throng of people outside seemed to be moving deeper into the city, but in her current state, Kara's carefully trained military instincts would not allow her to go closer the source of commotion. The military base seemed to be right in the center of the smoke.

Kara moved out of the city at a cautious pace. She did not want to do anything rash, and still had very little idea what was even happening. As she moved further away from the city more people started moving in her direction and the walked in a comfortable silence. Kara could feel her companions giving her huge pregnant belly appraising glances. More than once someone tried to offer her assistance, but she stopped them with a serious but not unfriendly glare.

Kara was not sure how far she had traveled or exactly where she was going when one of her walking companions broke the silence with a small shout. They had just reached the top of the hill and in the distance a raptor and a crowd of people was visible. Kara's companions broke into a run but Kara kept at her steady pace, her conscience considerably lifted by the military presence.

When Kara was still a distance away it became clear that the raptor was preparing to leave she watched as a man in a flight uniform ushered a number of people onto the craft and then raised his weapon to keep the now unruly crowd in check. She drew closer as a civilian jumped on top of the rapidly lifting raptor, and the man fired a shot to get him off the plane. She was now close enough to the craft to see as it rose that it had the Galatica's insignia and she smiled in spite of herself. If this raider had survived it was likely that the Battlestar also had.

Now the raider was a distant speck in the sky and the crowd started to draw away from the pilot in disgust, and move toward the wounded man on the ground. Kara took the opportunity to move closer to the pilot. She didn't recognize him from any of her assignments or her one visit to the Galatica. He was young and his attractive features bent in concern when his gaze registered on her obviously large stomach.

"You should have spoken up," he said softly. "You and the baby should have been on that raptor." Kara smiled slightly at the forwardness of his greeting. How very chivalrous of him.

"I got here just as the raider took off," she responded to his statement. "I'm Kara Adama." She announced by way of introduction and held out her hand. She watched as his features lit up in recognition of her last name.

"Karl Agathron," he said as he grasped her hand. "You're the legendary Starbuck? Zak Adama's wife?"

When she nodded in agreement he continued.

"I serve with your husband. Both of the old mans son's were on board for the decommissioning. Zak's a solid guy." Kara smiled slightly but then grew quickly solemn.

"Did the Galatica survive? Is my husband alright?" she finished in a hurry.

"As far as I know the Galactica is still flying but…both Adama boys were in the brig."

"In the brig?" Kara repeated, slightly shocked.

"They got in a fistfight with each other, but it might have saved their lives." Helo told her and then lowered his voice slightly to evade the hearing of the crowd that was now eying them interestedly.

"Something odd was happening in the air, an entire squadron of Galatica's fighters was dead in the water, they all were killed by the Cylons."

"Oh Lords." Kara responded. "What now?" Kara asked with a vague gesture to the crowd of people a few yards away. The crowd had been edging away from the site of the take off but as Kara conversed with Helo a few curious people had stopped and were listening from yards away.

"We can't just sit here and wait to get blown up." Helo responded wryly.

"I think the bombing is done." Kara answered. "Nothing has fallen for hours. Now they are counting on radiation taking us out."

"The mountains seem to be our best bet." Helo examined the billowing clouds of smoke. The mountain range in the distance seemed to offer the best protection. Kara agreed and Helo pulled her close to murmur in her ear. "These people are not going to want to come with me right after I shot someone."

Kara nodded and pulled back. She placed both her hands on her very pregnant stomach to call attention to herself and took a deep breath.

"If we want to survive we need to stick together and form a united group. Lt. Agathron thinks the mountains offer us the best protection. I'm going with him and everyone else is welcome to come, or try their luck on their own." Kara stated calmly and started walking. Helo smiled at her forwardness and fell into step with her. The majority of the crowd began to follow. The nervous silence that had permeated the group now transformed itself into even more nervous conversation.

Kara allowed Helo to take her bag from her. Traveling was going to be a struggle even without it. And when he slipped his arm around her waist when the terrain become particularly rocky she didn't recoil from his assistance as she usually would have done. Instead, she silently thanked the Lords of Kobol that her husband had avoided the initial attack and that she had the fortune of running into a member of the Galatica's crew. She didn't think that at the end of the world, she could ask for anything more.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Helo discovered quickly that he had to pretend that the world was not over. He found himself the defacto leader of the survivors. They looked to him for answers and guidance. He couldn't lead if he thought that they were dead already. So he convinced himself, that there might be a way to not only save himself, but keep 20 other people alive.

After Kara's speech, the group of civilians gladly followed him. They traveled throughout the day under his guidance and now had made camp in a small clearing. They haven't seen any other humans or any sign of Cylons all day so he allowed them to relax slightly and build a fire.

Now he and Kara are sitting side by side each eating part of the small ration of food they were able to procure. Helo was sure that anyone who has food it pirating it away, and he knows that if they survive for the next day or two they will be forced to look for food. He takes the opportunity to study the blonde woman sitting next to him and she returns the scrutiny. Somehow, in all the stories Zak Adama had told of his wife, the mighty Starbuck, Helo hadn't expected her to be quite so beautiful, and so oddly fragile looking.

Helo has no idea what to expect from her, now that the legend of Starbuck is conflicting with the flesh and blood woman in front of him. He half thought she'd ask more questions about her husband, but she seemed content with the sparse details he had given her earlier. So he was slightly shocked when she suddenly curled up on the ground next to him and closed her eyes.

He exhaled his relief that she had chosen to sleep where he could easily and unobtrusively watch over her. He had only known this woman for a few hours but he knew that letting her out of his sight even briefly would be difficult, if not impossible. He had no idea what inspired such sudden and fierce loyalty. As he watched her steady breathing he knew it was more than just the state of her huge pregnant stomach. She looked almost painfully curled up on the hard ground, but he suspected that she would resist any kind of assistance he offered her.

Helo decided that he needed to sleep if he was going to be of any use as a leader. His little ragtag group of survivors would be all right for a few hours. Or they simply wouldn't be; there was no way to tell what tomorrow would bring. He arranged himself close enough to Kara's sleeping form that any movement from her would wake him, but hopefully still achieved an appropriate distance, considering that he had only known her for a few hours.

He tried to still his thoughts as exhaustion finally attempted to overpower the finely tuned instincts that were keeping him awake. As Helo drifted off to sleep something about the woman next to him nagged him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His last thought before sleep swept him away was that he had been subconsciously surprised at Kara's huge stomach. In all of his adoring stories, Zak Adama had never once mentioned that his wife was pregnant.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kara wanted to curse her luck but instead found herself praising it. She had found herself on a devastated planet after a nuclear catastrophe but she was alive and in much better condition than she could ask for considering her circumstances.

She entertained these thoughts from her vantage point where she was secured with Helo and his binoculars. The morning was clear and she could see for meters in all directions. She and Helo now found themselves in the position of needing supplies if their group of survivors was going to have any chance. While their instincts told them that the mountains provided the best protection from any possible attacks, they were going to need a supply of anti-radiation medication, not to mention food, if they planned to live. Kara and Helo had roused themselves early to scout out the area from this vantage point.

"I don't know anything about you." Helo announced suddenly and Kara glanced at him quizzically. "I mean, I know all these stories, but I know nothing about the real Kara," he finished with a slight chuckle. She looked at him appraisingly for a moment and gave him a half smile.

"And I don't know anything about you. Let's start with the most important. So why raptors?" she asked. He looked at her, puzzled.

"What?"

"Why do you fly vipers? If you want to know more about me you're going to have to play."

"I'm good at them. No desire to vie for the glory in a viper," he answered, smiling. "Why vipers?" he countered.

"I'm good at flying them. Simply, really, intrinsically good at it." She responded.

"From what I've heard I don't doubt it," he said. "Give me a random fact." He looked at her, his expression serious but his eyes playful.

"I've been married for 2 years," she supplied quickly.

"Something I don't know," Helo responded in an earnest manner that Kara was quickly discovering to be a fundamental part of him.

"This is not my husbands baby," she announced and met his gaze challengingly, uncertain of what his response might be. He surprised her by letting out a dry laugh.

"I should have known you'd cut out all the bull shit. All right, I'm in love with my co-pilot," he answered.

"Are you fracking your co-pilot?" she asked.

"Who's the father of your baby?" he countered. He stared at her for a moment and then answered her question, leaving his dangling.

"Boomer's sleeping with the chief mechanic," he answered slowly. She paused for a moment and then spoke.

"I slept with Lee Adama," Kara said carefully.

"You win the fracked up contest for today." Helo announced in an attempt at levity.

"Have you stopped to think that none of this matters? If I survive, if this baby survives, if we somehow manage to get back to the Galatica and it's still in the air, do you think anyone will even care who the father of this baby is?" Kara finished quickly and met his surprised gaze.

"You are something else." Helo said genuine surprise registering on his face.

"None of it matters. All that matters is surviving," Kara spoke in a harsher tone than she had intended. She picked up the binoculars that had fallen to the ground in between them and continued her search.

Suddenly Kara saw a lone figure on a rock outcropping in the distance. She recognized the rock as one they had traveled over the day before. She zoomed in closer and registered a colonial flight suit on the figure, which appeared to be a slender young woman, as she watched, another figure joined the first. The second was also a slender woman with dark hair, although she wasn't wearing a flight suit. Kara tapped Helo's arm and handed him the binoculars carefully trained on the rock. Helo let out a strangled sound of surprise.

"Frack!" he exclaimed. "Kara, that's Boomer, my pilot. Frack. They both are." Kara let out her own startled exclamation and took the binoculars back. He was right; the women on the rock were identical.

"I don't suppose there's any chance Boomer has sisters?" she asked softly and then swore herself.

"I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it. We need to get the group together and move now." Helo stated slowly.

"That can't be Boomer." Kara sadly voiced his unspoken sentiment. They both stood up and picked their way slowly across the rocky terrain.

Kara closed her eyes for a moment and conjured up Lee's face. She imagined him as she'd last seen him. Glancing over his shoulder, shooting her one of his megawatt smiles, with just a trace of sadness in his eyes. But it was just a flash, a memory, and he was gone too quickly. She could only hope that he was still alive. But really other than a feeling in her gut, she had no idea. So she'd pray to the Gods and continue on simply living.

Kara shook herself slightly and hurried after Helo, the slope of his broad shoulders clearly visible in front of her. His very presence was very reassuring somehow. Maybe together, they could make it through one more day.


End file.
